Quality in statistics

The data made available by official statistics are of high quality. Quality is defined as the totality of characteristics and attributes of a product or service that determine its ability to meet stated or implied needs. Quality includes such components as relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence.

Our task is to continuously improve quality in public statistics. To do this, we use recommendations based on international standards and the quality standards of the European Statistical System. We undertake various activities to improve quality levels, such as:

conducting workshops of quality in official statistics;
developing quality review plans;
publishing information on data quality in publications, statistical studies and metadata.

We assess and monitor the quality of statistical processes through the use of proven and modern tools. The most important of these include quality reports, quality measures, quality self-assessment, DESAP/LiKoS checklist and quality reviews. It should be noted here that the these tools are described in the Compendium of Knowledge on Quality in Official Statistics, which is recommended for use by other producers of statistical data (ONAs - other national authorities).